Thunderbolt display does not charge macbook pro

I had the same issue today with Thunderbolt display and last generation MBP 17". It was not charging. I have a few peripherals connected and was running two virtual machines. As soon as I disconnected a dual USB connected peripheral that was pulling a bit of power the MacBook started charging. So maybe having too much power draw overall through the various components may just disable the charging. I also checked with the units original power supply and it was acting the same as the thunderbolt display.

This is all without any magsafe adapters in the chain.

One more piece of data: plugging the same high power draw USB peripheral into the thunderbold connectors/hub rather than the MBP (so pulling power directly from the display instead of through the MBP) also fixed the issue.

So try moving high power draw components to the thunderbolt display directly.

Ok one last update: it all seems to be thermal. I was monitoring the temperature and based on overall power draw, processor load, etc, the temperature was high, and this disabled the charging. Which was suggested earlier here...

Just spoke with Apple Support. After a quick SMC reset with no success, they are shipping me a new adapter. They indicated that this is a "known issue" and that they would be crediting my account once they receive the old adapter back. And, they indicated that the hold on my account would only be $7.

Watch out about that "credit afterwards" statement. That's what they told me too. They charged me $19.10 for the adapter that apparently is a "DIY" repair. I had to fight tooth and nail to get my money back!

You have been forwarned 🙂

You were right. Not only were they going to charge me, they were going to send me the wrong part (a duckhead). Just got it sorted out with Apple Support again - let's see what they try to send me this time (and what they try to charge me)...

17" MacBook Pro; no adapter; newest Mac Pro; two 27" displays; OS 10.9.2.

One display charges properly, the other will not charge. Took the one bad display to a local Mac store and it charged their laptops perfectly (I did not take my laptop to the store, which was dumb of me). Brought the display home and it charged my MacBook Pro perfectly for about 3 days. The store service employee said that sometimes the display needs a reset by pluging into another laptop, which we did at the Mac store. I don't have another laptop at the moment to see if his theory is correct.

We are long, long overdue for a new display with updated connectivity on all fronts. Not a solution -- the revised adapter others have mentioned is -- but what is Apple doing? Are they really getting out of the display business? Should I just go ahead and get an LG or a Sharp or...? The last version of the TB Display is well over 1000 days old (Sept 2011 was the release).

Same problem. My Macbook Pro Retina (Spring 2013 model) and 27" Thunderbolt Display (Spring 2013 model) have been plagued by problems. The problem you described started for me a few months ago, and shortly after the logic board (motherboard) died in my Macbook Pro. I shelled out nearly $1200+ to Apple to fix my computer in a timely manner (approx $600 for a new logic board, and approx $550 to join their "joint venture program" so I could have the benefit of receiving prompt service within a few days instead of a few weeks). My computer now appears to be running smooth again, but the monitor is still failing to charge my laptop and fiddling with the connector no longer seems viable. Not feeling too warm and fuzzy towards Apple these days. Going to try bringing my monitor into the Apple store and seeing what they have to say about the charging issue. I'll be sure to report back here in case it helps someone else.

I found a simple fix was to unplug my thunderbolt cable, and plug it back in. Once only the mag safe connector was connected it started charging. And then I have to wiggle my magsafe around if I want to see it light up. Apple and cables... yikes.

Had the same issue of no charging when I reconnected by MBP to TBD, so tried a back up charger...same thing. I disconnected both the power supply from TBD and the TBD connector. Then I plugged power supply in first followed by the TBD connector. That worked for me.

Same here, I flipped it around and it started charging again.

You may also find it worthwhile to take to it with some vinegar and an old toothbrush - this is the same method you can use if an old battery has leaked inside a device (e.g.: cordless mourse, etc). After cleaning my Magsafe Adaptor it works both ways again.

I have this problem too. Both my Thunderbolt display and MBP have MagSafe 1. The power cord out of the back of the display for the computer is hard wired. There's no way that I can see to replace any adapter. However, reading through this thread and realizing that it is probably a hardware issue, I tried pushing the power cord firmly against the computer and, Voila, it started charging. Likely this is only a temporary fix.

Here's another data point. I had the exact problem described here when connecting an Apple 27" LED Cinema Display (the TD's predecessor) to both a retina MacBook Pro (mid-2012) and a mid-2015 MBP. Swapping out the MagSafe 1 to MagSafe 2 adapter did not solve the problem; if I used a newer Apple 85W adapter with MagSafe2 plug, there was a mostly reliable connection. Eventually, the intermittent charging problem seemed to get worse (sometimes I would have to "jiggle" the MS1-MS2 adapter several times to get the LED on the MS1 plug to turn on), and at wit's end, I took the display to a local Apple Store. The "genius" diagnosed a faulty video/power cable on the display itself, and offered to replace it for about $85. I agreed, and the new cable did fix the problem.

However, they also left streak marks on the LED panel inside the display, and after I brought the display back for them to clean it further, they concluded that they had damaged the panel and offered to replace the 27" LED Cinema Display with a Thunderbolt display. For completely different reasons, I also wound up getting a new MBP (mid-2015) a bit later.

Well, only a few months after I received a completely new display and a new MBP, the problem has returned! 😮 So I'm at a loss to explain this. I'll try swapping out the MS1-MS2 adapter, but I don't know how the one supplied with the Thunderbolt display could have gotten dirty or damaged in so short a time. It did work flawlessly for a while.

Ditto.

My thunderbolt display isn't even one year old, and I need to tweak the mag safe adapter [to my 2014 MacBook Pro Retina] to get it to charge. I purchased the monitor at Best Buy, along with a maintenance plan and I am about to take it back to their store.

Apple is coming up with some shabby products.